MANCOS — It's been an emotional six days for firefighters from the Mancos Fire Protection District, which were the first responders to the Weber Fire.
On Tuesday, at the Mancos Fire Station, firefighters said that they tried to keep their emotions in check as they fought to save homes of friends and neighbors.
Mancos Assistant Fire Chief Eddie Martinez said he and his firefighters were surprised the fire grew so quickly. But he also said that it wasn't surprising that a fire broke out because of how hot and dry the area has been this spring and summer.
The Mancos volunteer firefighters do not get paid for their work, whether it's a raging wildfire bearing down on a neighbor's home or a structure fire at a neighbor's home in the community, Martinez said.
The Weber Fire was first reported around 4:15 Friday afternoon.
Most of the first respondents from the Mancos department have now returned to their everyday jobs.
“Basically, it impacts them financially,” Martinez said about the volunteer firefighters taking time off work to benefit the community.
“With Mancos Fire it is a commitment, a family commitment,” he said.
On Monday, the Mancos district was fully staffed and ready to respond if needed, but the staffing dwindled to a skeleton crew as many returned to their regular jobs.
Martinez said if the volunteers are needed again, they could be called off their jobs, and added the department has backups with other nearby fire departments.
What was emotionally troubling for Mancos firefighters, Martinez said, was that they knew most of the residents in the town and to see friends being evacuated and their homes in danger was difficult.
“We are here for the community,” he said. “You have to check your emotions and put it in the back of your mind because you have a job to do.”
While federal firefighters are now battling the Weber Fire, which is at 9,155 acres and now at 45 percent containment as of press time, the Mancos volunteer fire department is now returning to serving the community.
Just like when they were first called out to the Weber Fire, the volunteer squad's priority is protecting homes and property in the Mancos area.
“Our priority is our structures,” he said. “Life and properties are first.”
Martinez pointed to the still-active Weber Fire from the fire station and said they are in constant contact with federal fire officials, and are sending firefighters out periodically to see if there are any spot fires that need to be taken care of immediately.
The volunteer fire community is a tight group.
Martinez said every volunteer fire department that rushed to Mancos as the call for help went out on Friday, knew that there would be no pay for their work. The rewards would come in a different way.
Maybe a handshake or a pat on the back, but the Mancos department knows that if and when a fire or another emergency occurs in a neighboring community, they will grab their gear and rush to help those communities in need.
Mancos firefighter Natasha Aspromonte, who was one of the more than 20 first responders to the Weber Fire, said she had to remain focused on the job.
“You detach your emotions while trying to get as many firefighters out there as possible,” she said.
“We knew everything down there in the canyon that was threatened,” she said.
The fire grew incredibly fast, jumping from 30 acres, to 100 to 300 and to 800 acres in 24 hours.
But there was success.
“The structures are still standing,” Aspromonte said. “We have not lost one yet.”
That fact brings pride to the Mancos department.
She said the volunteer fire department is now watching over the entire community, but added if a home is threatened, firefighters will be sent there to sit by the house to implement precautions to save the structure.
Mancos firefighter Wyatt Cox said the volunteer department takes pride in saving homes and it's extremely important in a small community that bands together in difficult times.
Cox said he knew many of the evacuees and he feels bad for them.
“It just wants you to work that much harder to save their homes,” he said. But he said that the department fights hard to save every home whether it's a wildfire or an individual structure fire.
Dolores, Lewis Arriola, Pleasant View and Rico departments were among those volunteer units that responded to the Weber Fire.
Other fire districts and departments
The Cortez Fire Protection District firefighters, who helped fight the Weber Fire, were funded by the federal government, not the district, said Cortez Fire Protection District Fire Chief Jeff Vandevoorde.
He said trying to balance its time between working on the Weber Fire near Mancos and serving the residents of Cortez was the challenge.
He said using a few firefighters to help out with the Weber Fire did not deplete services from the local community too much.
Every day the district sends two firefighters and a brush truck from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. to the Weber Fire while being vigilant on having manpower available for emergencies in Cortez.
“It really doesn't put a burden on us,” he said. “We just have to be very careful not to deplete our manpower.”
Vandevoorde said two firefighters and a tanker just returned after helping fight the High Park fire near Fort Collins for two weeks.
He said the two firefighters were sent to the Northern Colorado fire well before the Weber Fire started on Friday.
Lewis Arriola Fire Protection District Chief George Deaver said his 28-member volunteer department still has two structure engines and six firefighters in Mancos. He said they will be there until there is no longer any danger to homes.
Deaver said some of the services it provided will be paid through a mutual-aid contract through the state, and some services will be a volunteer assist with no compensation.
“We would have been there helping them out whether or not we were getting paid,” Deaver said.
Reach Michael Maresh at michaelm@cortezjournal.com